
28-May-2004, 20:51
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 | VIP Member | | Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 6,073
Member Type: Academic | |
Re: Borges's ancient Chinese encyclopedia Quote: |
Originally Posted by Ya Hi,
I am now reading "Kant and the Platypus" written by Umberto Eco and needs to translate the book into Chinese. I am not quite sure about the meaning of the following paragraph, especially the underlined part. Could anyone do me a favor. Thanks in advance.
What has Kant got to do with the platypus? Nothing. As we shall see from the dates, he couldn't have had anything to do with it. And this should suffice to justify the title and its use of an incongruous set that sounds like a tribute to Borges's ancient Chinese encyclopedia. | An incongruous set or an incongruity is something in which the two parts do not agree or are not in harmony with each other. Kant was a German philosopher. He had nothing to do with strange egg-laying mammals from Australia. Similarly, Borges, as an Argentine writer, had nothing to do with ancient Chinese reference books. :? |